According to the publication, "Morocco has strengthened its position as a gateway to Europe and Africa in recent years. This has not escaped the attention of China, which is showing an increasing economic interest in the Kingdom."
"Due to its geostrategic location, the Kingdom has positioned itself as the entry point for European investments in Africa," says Le Point. "[Morocco's] port, Tangier Med, has entered the top 25 global port hubs and is third in terms of connectivity behind Shanghai and Panama City."
"This has not escaped China," the magazine writes one day after Morocco and China signed the agreement on the Joint Implementation Plan of the Belt and Road.
Since HM King Mohammed VI's visit to China in 2016, the two countries have strengthened their partnership on all diplomatic, cultural and especially economic levels, increasing the volume of their trade, notes the magazine.
"Morocco even became the first country in the Maghreb to join, in November 2017, the great project of new silk roads that aims to improve trade links between Asia, Europe, Africa and even beyond through the construction of ports, railroads, airports or industrial parks," stresses the Point in an article published under the title: "Morocco, key player for China in the Maghreb".
According to the French magazine, which cites the School of Economic Warfare (EGE), "Morocco's geographical location, between Africa and Europe, its ability to provide a skilled workforce, its infrastructure and logistics and its unparalleled stability in the region may explain the interest of the People's Republic of China for the Kingdom."
The publication underlines that this interest "is also reflected in figures. Thus, bilateral trade has grown by 50% in the last five years, from 4 billion dollars in 2016 to 6 billion dollars in 2021 and more than 80 Chinese investment projects are underway in Morocco."
The magazine also recalls that last July, Rabat and Beijing took a new step by signing agreements in the field of health, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with the manufacture of the COVID-19 vaccine Sinopharm.
"This was only a step before the signing of new agreements to achieve a greater involvement of the Kingdom of Morocco in the project of the belt and road," says the publication.